The Streetcar, Which Has Never Run, Still Won't Run in Snowstorm
The District Department of Transportation made a curious snow-closings announcement Friday: The D.C. streetcar will stop service at 5 p.m.
That might have caused Washingtonians to say: Wait, what streetcar?
The 2.2-mile streetcar line has never carried passengers. But [for the past year and a half] it has been running back and forth along H Street NE, performing what DDOT calls “simulated service.” And in light of the snow, simulated service will stop Friday.
I need to get from one end of this line to the other, which means that it will be useful to me for all of a month, until the capitol hill light rail station opens, and offers service in a fraction of the time, and more frequently.
@8 Yes but this project comes with the added bonus of a significant safety hazard for cyclists on a major cycling route into downtown. I'm sure the tourists will love it though.
@11: other than a subway, what mode of mass transit doesn't present a safety hazard to bicycles? I've managed to ride down Westlake in-between the tracks, multiple times, and I'm still alive.
a banana peel on the road presents a safety hazard to bicycles.
Is there some sort of law that says a member of the media has to identify themselves as such if asked? I'm all for transparency, but this seems awfully like the "if you're a cop, you have to tell me" myth that everyone believes to be true.
@8 -- Think of it like a bus. It carries roughly as many people, and is roughly as frequent. As a bus route, it may be a bit redundant. From the north, the 49 goes as far south as Pine, the 60 as far south as Madison and the 9 goes all the way down to Jackson. If you are headed to the International District, then the 60 will get you there, but it takes a different route (to the west much of the way). From all the major cross streets (John, Pine, Union, Madison, Jefferson, Yesler and Jackson) you can take a bus more directly to downtown.
So, basically, this connects parts of Broadway with the I. D. and provides a one stop ride (albeit a bit slow) to Jackson downtown. That's about it. My guess is that most of the people who take this will be joy riders and those who were expecting to take the bus (but this happened to arrive first).
My last comment wasn't quite right. The 9 provides a ride to the International District from most of Broadway. So basically the streetcar is redundant for most of its route. The only connection this adds is Broadway to Jackson west of I-5 (a couple stops). That's pretty much it.
It is note worthy to mention how this came about. This is paid for by Sound Transit, even though it is implemented by SDOT. It is compensation for not putting in a light rail stop in First Hill.
This is why, as a pro-transit urbanust, I hate [white] pro-transit urbanists: they're still treating transit as a fashion accessory. Because most of them grew up in the burbs and didn't need transit to get around, it's basically a gravy train for them. There's almost no rationale behind this route. Proponents will say it's a fixed route that will spur development. Downtown and Broadway aren't going anywhere.
with an accident on broadway and then another one on yesler all on the first day? not sure what to think of it... total chaos on yesler between 14th ave and 12th ave, the street just simply ended up being closed to traffic for an hour or so... and this is after 6 months of test runs? totally agree with 19 btw...
I'm getting the impression, from the comments and the reporting, that this tram doesn't run in a dedicated lane. Can this be true?
Trams are fast, efficient, and on-schedule ONLY when they have dedicated lanes; and so aren't affected by automobile traffic. Where I live, this is the case. The only exception is for taxis and buses, which are the only other vehicles allowed to use the transit lane. So the system works tremendously well.
The Capitol Hill - Jackson Station route should only take about 30 minutes. But if the tram has to sit in street traffic, it isn't any better than a poorly run bus system which suffers the same problem.
I know.... whaa whaaaa whaaaaaaaaaaa
a banana peel on the road presents a safety hazard to bicycles.
So, basically, this connects parts of Broadway with the I. D. and provides a one stop ride (albeit a bit slow) to Jackson downtown. That's about it. My guess is that most of the people who take this will be joy riders and those who were expecting to take the bus (but this happened to arrive first).
It is note worthy to mention how this came about. This is paid for by Sound Transit, even though it is implemented by SDOT. It is compensation for not putting in a light rail stop in First Hill.
Meanwhile... on the SLUT
Trams are fast, efficient, and on-schedule ONLY when they have dedicated lanes; and so aren't affected by automobile traffic. Where I live, this is the case. The only exception is for taxis and buses, which are the only other vehicles allowed to use the transit lane. So the system works tremendously well.
The Capitol Hill - Jackson Station route should only take about 30 minutes. But if the tram has to sit in street traffic, it isn't any better than a poorly run bus system which suffers the same problem.
Seems pretty poorly conceived to me.